Over a hundred Oakland teachers and supporters walk a picket line during a strike outside Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Elementary school teacher Ishara Beliso, second from right, takes part in a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland Tech teacher Tania Kappner leads over a hundred Oakland teachers and supporters in a chant during a strike outside Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Student Jewell Adams, left, and teacher Sean Gleason, right, take part in a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Protesters take part in a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

Sharon Thomas, an educator for 23 years, starts a picket line chant on the first day of a teacher’s strike outside West Oakland Middle School, where she teaches strategic English, on Feb. 21, 2019. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)

Protestors at Manzanita School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Oakland School District teachers went on strike this morning. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland Tech teacher Shannon Brandon leads over a hundred Oakland teachers and supporters in a chant during a strike outside Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Nya Ford-Miller, 5, whose mother teaches at Manzanita Elementary School, holds up a sign in support for Oakland teachers in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Oakland educators are seeking better wages and resources for their schools. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

Jennifer Ruiz, left, places a name tag on Marin Cobell, 7, right, while she checks into the solidarity school site at the Salvation Army on Garden Street in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Parents are able to drop their children off at the site during the Oakland teacher strike. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

Ken Siedler, right, a parent and volunteer at the solidarity school site at the Salvation Army on Garden Street, plays with Josiah Hall, 1, left, in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Parents are able to drop their children off at the site during the Oakland teacher strike. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Teacher Joe Usrey, right, greets students, center, at the entrance to Skyline High School as co-principal Dr. Bianca D’Allesandro, second from left, looks on during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Teachers Casey Dolan, left, and Harley Litzelman, center, talk with a Oakland School District police officer at the entrance to Skyline High School during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

Teachers and supporters picket outside of Manzanita School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Oakland educators are seeking better wages and resources for their schools. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

Teachers and supporters picket outside of Manzanita School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Oakland educators are seeking better wages and resources for their schools. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

Over a hundred Oakland teachers and supporters walk a picket line during a strike outside Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Over a hundred Oakland teachers and supporters walk a picket line during a strike outside Oakland Technical High School in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Signs are photographed during a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Protesters take part in a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA – FEBRUARY 21: Protesters march at the entrance to Skyline High School during a teacher strike on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

Striking Oakland Unified School District teachers gather at Skyline High School entrance in Oakland, California on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Aric Crabb/ Bay Area News Group)

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OAKLAND — Chants like “that’s why we’re on strike today — public education is our right” and “Oakland is a union town — get up, get down” broke the early morning chill around Oakland today as striking teachers demanding better pay descended on the city’s public schools, where few students were seen crossing picket lines to get to class.

Thousands of Oakland public school teachers and their supporters were expected to demonstrate at all of the city’s 86 public schools, according to the Oakland Education Association. Thousands of teachers and their supporters gathered downtown at Frank Ogawa Plaza in the early afternoon and marched to the nearby Oakland Unified central office on Broadway. They plan to return to the picket lines from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

“This is a historic moment in the city of Oakland, where across the city at 86 school sites, we teamed together, the parents, the students, the community, shut the district down to demand that Oakland students get the schools they deserve,” teachers union president Keith Brown said to cheers from thousands of supporters at a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza.

At Skyline High School, teachers and supporters began blocking the entrance gates at 6:30 a.m, holding green union signs that read “on strike for more student support.”

Here's the scene outside the main gate of Skyline High School this morning, as the Oakland teachers strike has been on for about one hour. pic.twitter.com/TvNuwwg7c0

They allowed a truck carrying food through the gates, but planned to block other traffic.

“We are not going to be letting any vehicles in unless they are yellow buses,” said Donna Salonga, a ceramics teacher who was speaking to strikers through a megaphone.

Fruitvale’s Manzanita Elementary School was lined with posters showing support for the striking teachers, declaring “we love our teachers” and “teachers inspire.”

For Oakland teachers, this is the third strike in 23 years, with the more recent one taking place in 2010 and ending after a day and the previous one in 1996 lasting 26 days. Union leaders say they hope the strike will be short and plan to return to the bargaining table at 9 a.m. Friday.

The strike comes on the heels of a week-long one in Los Angeles last month and another earlier this month in Denver that ended after three days.

School principals have been warning parents all week about what to expect during the strike. Sports programs were suspended, although teams that made it to the playoffs will continue to play. The district said it was staffing classrooms with substitute teachers as well as administrative staff.

District spokesman John Sasaki couldn’t say how much would actually be taught in the classrooms Thursday or how many students were expected to attend. Principals will have access to “appropriate instructional plans” that can be implemented, according to a district news release that didn’t elaborate.

Amy Jones, an assistant principal at Manzanita Elementary School who was working amid the strike Thursday, said that virtually all of the teachers there joined the picket line. Administrators and substitute teachers looked after students and had some activities planned, but no formal lesson plans.

The Oakland Education Association and the district have been negotiating a contract off and on since the last one expired about two years ago.

The union has said the district’s offers don’t come close to paying teachers enough to make ends meet in the high-priced Bay Area. The average annual salary for Oakland teachers was $63,149 during the 2017-18 school year, according to a report from the state’s Department of Education. Salaries ranged from $46,570 to $83,724.

Before talks broke off Wednesday, Oakland Unified offered an overall raise of about 7 percent across two-and-a-half years retroactive to Jan. 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2021, plus a 1.5 percent bonus — slightly up from its original offer of 5 percent over three years.

The union has been holding out for a 12 percent increase over three years. The district contends that’s too much, considering it’s staring at a budget shortfall that could hit $56.6 million by the 2020-21 school year unless drastic cuts are made. A sharp decline in student enrollment from 54,000 to 37,000 over the past 15 years is partly to blame for that predicament, but union officials and other critics say that fiscal mismanagement is a bigger reason.

“It’s just unfortunate,” said Keith Debro, a 30-year educator who has spent 18 years as a special education teacher at Oakland Technical High School. “The district hasn’t managed money well, and it’s not all of their fault — I’d like to see the city get more involved.”

Debro was among a crowd of teachers picketing outside the school Thursday morning, where a group of supportive Berkeley High School teachers joined their Oakland counterparts.

“Our struggles are common,” said Karen Zapata, a Berkeley High English teacher. “We are also working on a campaign to increase our wages and provide more resources to our students. This is the right thing for us to do.”

Dan Siegel, a former Oakland Board of Education member from 1999 to 2006 and a civil rights attorney, was picketing with his wife Anne Weills at Skyline, where their son teaches.

“I think the teachers’ demands are more than reasonable, and the school district needs to meet them,” Siegel said, adding that the district should “tear apart the budget, and start all over again,” to ensure schools are fully staffed with teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses, then use what’s left over to fund the administration, “instead of doing it in the opposite direction.”

Some local elected officials also expressed support for the teachers, in person and on social media. State Assemblyman Rob Bonta joined the picket line at Manzanita Elementary, as did East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, urged support for the teachers on Twitter, adding that she hopes the district and union can come to an agreement quickly.

Students who do not show up to school will have an unexcused absence unless a parent or guardian has called in to excuse them, according to the district.

But at a handful of local schools, few students could be spotted crossing picket lines into their classrooms. By the 8 a.m. classes, fewer than 10 students were observed walking into Oakland Technical High School. Only five students had arrived at Manzanita Elementary 15 minutes before class started at 8:30 a.m. and a few more trickled in after that. Two school buses arrived carrying only one student each.

Administrators at Skyline High School declined to confirm how many students or teachers were on campus, but only a handful of students had arrived at the main campus gate between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m.

Authorities said two people on the picket line at East Oakland Pride Elementary School damaged a car by jumping on it as a school employee was being dropped off at work at around 9 a.m. Authorities identified the suspects as a teacher and a student.

A union organizer at Skyline reported low attendance numbers for various schools — three at Coliseum College Prep academy, six at Bret Harte Middle School, five each at Melrose Leadership Academy and Lafayette Elementary, and only one at Crocker Highlands Elementary, for instance.

McClymonds High School sophomore Waldo Perez said about 15 students showed up there and no regular teachers were inside. District staff supervised as students watched movies and hung out, he said.

Instead of going to class, many students joined the picket lines. About 30 of them marched with teachers in front of Oakland Tech just after 9 a.m., and about 20 more waved placards and signs in front of the school in solidarity.

Anthony Lyons, 16, a junior at Ralph J. Bunche Academy, was out with teachers at the picket line, holding a sign that read “Fight for the schools students deserve.”

While he said he would attend class today at the direction of his father, he wanted to support his teachers so he showed up early to march with them. He wants them to get a raise, he said, adding “You got to stand up for yourself.”

For students who chose not to cross picket lines, the city offered up space in 15 recreation centers staffed by union members and volunteers.

At the Redwood Heights Recreation Center and Montclair Recreation Center, students took classes including martial arts, art, music and math, led by union members, volunteers and parents.

Volunteers said they expect the centers to see more students if the strike continues, and said some parents likely took the day off from work.

The Grand Lake Theatre offered $1 admission and $1 popcorn at special showings of “Black Panther” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” for Oakland students and parents affected by the strike. About 120 people came out for two late-morning screenings, with more planned for the afternoon.

Mahasin Aleem, 39, refused to cross the picket lines at her sons’ schools — Edna Brewer Middle School and Cleveland Elementary — and brought them to see “Ralph Breaks the Internet” instead. Aleem said she appreciated the politically active theater’s support for teachers.

“This is a good lesson for them about standing together for our rights as employees, and what it costs to live in the Bay Area,” she said.

A temporary disruption to students in the school district is worthwhile, said Steve O’Carroll, a special education teacher at Skyline, because the conditions teachers face – lower pay, large class sizes, overburdened counselors, high cost of living – force a high teacher and counselor turnover rate.

“A lot of kids are falling through the cracks because no one knows them,” he said, adding that the strike is also about getting more and better resources for classrooms, such as newer laptops that function properly, and enough of them so students don’t have to share.

“We’re so close to Silicon Valley, every school should be fully outfitted” he said.

Estefana Ramos, a first-grade bilingual teacher at Manzanita, said her main objective in striking Thursday was to fight for smaller class sizes. Her class is 25 students, the biggest she’s had in her nine years of teaching.

“It’s heavy with really high-needs kids, kids who have recently arrived from Central America and Mexico, and many are coming in with a lot of trauma,” Ramos said in an interview. “I’m responsible for their growth, but also their social, emotional needs, their traumas, everything. I — we — need more support.”

Parents were also among those at the picket lines Thursday.

Tania Chi pulled her son out of his first-grade class at Manzanita in support of the striking teachers. They picketed outside the school in the morning and she planned to drop them off with a babysitter before going to work. She hoped the lack of attendance would get the district’s attention.

“That’s how OUSD makes their money, and we need them to listen,” Chi said, adding that she knew some parents who had to take their children to school despite supporting the strike because they didn’t have any other childcare options.

Doug Hamilton, of Oakland, joined the picket lines with his 15-year-old son Ben Hamilton, who is a freshman at Skyline.

“I think this action is long overdue,” said Hamilton, formerly a teacher for 15 years. “It’s taken too long for the district to really make an offer that makes any sense,” but that offer is still “too little, too late.”

It’s not just about salaries, Hamilton added. “The district keeps billing this as the teachers just wanting more money, which of course plays well in the press, but that’s not it. And they’ve just been really slow to act. Oakland has been a mess for a long time, the Oakland administration. As citizens, we’re sick of it.”

His son, Ben, said he and fellow students feel the impact.

“I want to show solidarity with the teachers because it’s not just their struggle; it’s our struggle,” he said. “If they get better pay, we get better teachers.”

is a reporter covering the Lamorinda area, Danville and San Ramon. He was the Hills weeklies editor, in charge of the Alameda Journal, Berkeley Voice, El Cerrito Journal, The Montclarion and The Piedmonter. He previously worked as an editor with the Los Angeles Times, the Contra Costa Times and the Oakland Tribune. Kawamoto is a central California native and a graduate of Fresno State University.